Throw away the key

The one profession to get results on recidivism has been sacrificed to Labour's desire to lock up criminals in private prisons

UK: Patrick Carter is one of Downing Street's thinkers. He was asked to work out a way of streamlining the prison system at a time when the population has reached a record 76,000 and is estimated to hit 93,000 by the end of the decade.

But ever since Downing Street published the Carter review on the new National Offender Management Service (Noms) last winter, the criminal justice community has searched in vain for the evidence base and the business case.

Carter proposed the merger of two professional cultures: prison, which warehouses criminals and probation, which works on how and why offenders offend. To cut custodial sentences he proposed a sentencing regime designed to keep less serious offenders in the community - a scheme expected to fail under pressure from the tabloids and, therefore, Downing Street itself.

Noms is based on an ethic of efficiency and competition, unburdened by professional judgment and public service. But what evidence supports Noms? Judy McKnight is the general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, a union whose members, unusually, address the life and times of their clients - criminals - as part of their professional politics, and she has been told that we are not allowed to know.

She asked the Open Government Unit to give the business case for this new monster agency. That was in January. It took until May and the Freedom of Information Act to get a reply. The Open Government Unit said, yes, Noms is controversial and, yes, data is available; but, no, she can't have it. Disclosure would "impinge on the space needed by the government to debate all relevant issues"; it would "lead to speculation on the way Noms is being established", and this could "lead to a decline in support for the policy".

That fear is no doubt cemented by scepticism in the Home Office which, according to leaks, is afraid that the £4bn merger of the two services "faces a high risk of failure". It gets worse. According to the Open Government Unit, disclosure could "jeopardise" Noms by undermining the confidence not only of staff but of the judiciary. "Such prejudice" would be "detrimental to the public interest." "Business cases" may be revised and rejected but must not be revealed, says the unit. Why? Because public debate would "compromise" the procurement programme.

Ah, so it might deter the private sector. Carter proposed simultaneous integration and fragmentation of prison and probation. Scotland had a public debate and preferred a collegial, multi-disciplinary model. But England got a three-week consultation - over Christmas - and a merger. Management of the mega corrections agency would be informed by technical rather than professional values, and would be open to "contestability" - Carter code for privatisation. This will bury the small but sometimes beautiful probation service, probably the most feminised of the criminal-justice professions, and one of the most successful, into the large and largely unsuccessful prison system.

Noms's mission is to reduce re-offending, but custody yields a 60% recidivism rate. And putting more and more people in prison actually puts public safety at risk, says Professor Michael Jacobson, New York's former chief probation officer. He has been in Britain this month arguing that, contrary to myth, the city's crime was cut in the 1990s not by prison but by community punishment and probation. So, why privatise probation, rather than focus on reforming the big but unsuccessful prison service? We are left to guess - and my guess is that the government's view of what works with offenders has become that nothing works, that criminals are part of a larger residuum with criminal tendencies, and if we can't make them earn a legal living wage, and we can't kill them, all we can do is control them. So, criminal justice replaces social justice.

What sponsors crime, the kind of crime that drives communities crazy, is a dangerous kind of knowledge because it tells us so much about what people do with power and powerlessness, what can change and what it costs to create change; and not least what it is about men's culture - most offenders being men - that connects them to cultures of crime. The government bankrolled a research programme on crime and punishment, but that unpublished review has not been allowed to enlighten public debate about the cultures and causes of crime, and the possibilities and limits of change. Not-knowingness encourages the prevailing prejudice that nothing works and therefore public safety can only be gained by curfew, control and containment: if we can't cut their hands off, or their willies, or their heads, then lock 'em up and throw away the key.

This is the orientation that lurks behind the preference for a managerial and technical - rather than professional and public-service - response to crime and punishment. This approach empties the debate of the distinction between efficiency and effectiveness, suggests Richard Garside, the director of the Crime and Society Foundation. Tagging can be done by anyone, Tesco or Group 4. Super-prisons, by the efficiency logic, are better value for money than smaller prisons, and Group 4 can do prison just as well as Her Majesty. Containment is less challenging than addressing offenders' circumstances, the cultures and causes of crime.

The profession associated with change rather than containment is, of course, probation. But it has been disdained as public-service and "soft", even though it has delivered the most creative and challenging work with offenders to reduce recidivism. Pessimism begets prison and privatisation, and that is why the business case - if it exists - must stay secret. But there is hope; the Home Office, after all, has a new, nice team in Charles Clarke, Fiona McTaggart and Baroness Scotland, all thinking people. It is to be hoped that they're not entirely persuaded by the pessimists.

By Beatrix Campbell posted 8 July 05

Related:

Judges' misdeeds will remain secret
UK: Judges who are disciplined for bad behaviour will not have the findings against them made public under a complaints regime to be launched next year.

Prisoner total rises 15% in six years
England and Wales are continuing to jail offenders at a higher rate than any other major country in western Europe, it emerged today. New research indicates that the government's use of prison as its main tool of penal policy has increased by 15% since 1999.

CPS drops prosecution over death in custody
UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Prisoner's cell death
UK: A prisoner was found hanged in his cell last week, the Home Office said, fuelling criticism over the soaring number of suicides in custody.

Plans for five new 'superprisons'
Recent figures show a total of 75,550 prisoners were held in 139 jails in England and Wales, nudging up the previous record of April 2004 by just six inmates.

Prison has lost its way - report
UK: Bristol prison is suffering wide-ranging problems because of inconsistent management, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has said.

Row over acupuncture for prisoners
UK: The Home Office has responded to criticism over prison inmates who are being offered acupuncture on the NHS in order to relieve stress.

Number of prisoners sent back to jail trebles
UK: The number of prisoners being sent back to jail after release has nearly trebled in the past five years, according to a report published today.

Top judge says crowded prisons cannot break cycle of crime
UK: Reoffending rates after a prison sentence are at an "unacceptably high level" and the failure of the criminal justice system to stop prisoners reoffending should shock the public, England's top judge, [Ruling Class] Lord Woolf, said last week.

All the World's a Prison: History
No doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.

Decade after inspector left in disgust, report tells of filth
UK: Dirty, mice-infested cells, high levels of self-harm, and widespread bullying over drugs and medications were just some of the damning findings of a report into conditions at Holloway, Britain's largest women's prison.

Most women 'should not be jailed'
Women make up 6% of the prison population in England and Wales. Imprisonment of women should be "virtually abolished", a prison reform group has said.

Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'
UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation [solitary confinement] of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

Inquest blames jail for overdose death
UK: An inquest jury returned a verdict itemising a catalogue of faults at Styal prison in Cheshire, concluding that the prison's "failure of duty of care" contributed to the death of Sarah Campbell, 18, who took an overdose of tablets on the first day of her three-year sentence.

Put in the way of self-harm in a place intended to protect others
UK: Sarah Campbell, 18, spent the last hours of her life in the segregation unit of Styal prison, Cheshire. "The seg", as those places are referred to, used to be known as "the block", short for punishment block. [ Seg is a bullshit word for Punishment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Mental Illness, Self-Harm, Human Rights Abuse and that is State Terror.]

Britain 'sliding into police state'
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.

UK solitary confinement
UK: Segregation units are prisons within prisons - the places where the most unchecked brutality is meted out to prisoners. In recent years conditions in high security segregation units have deteriorated, and the use of long-term segregation as a control mechanism has increased.

Inquiry must root out prison racists
UK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.

Prison suicides soar as jails hire 'babysitters'
UK: Prison officers are being taken off suicide watch and replaced by unqualified 'babysitters' because the system is overwhelmed by an epidemic of self-harm.

Plan to sell off juvenile jails as job lot
UK: The government is to put out to tender all its dedicated juvenile jails that hold children under 18 in a departure in Whitehall's privatisation programme.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

Report slams 'unjust' jailing of women on remand
UK: Six out of 10 women sent to jail while they await trial are acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence, a report published today reveals. Introducing the report, Lady Kennedy QC calls for a complete review of the use of remand and bail for women saying it is "inhumane and unjust".

Concern as UK prison suicides hit record level
UK: More prisoners took their own lives in English jails in August than in any other month since records began, prison reformers said today.

End of years of despair as Holloway closes its doors
But now Holloway prison in north London - where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged in 1955 - has been earmarked for closure, along with several other women's prisons, which have been hit by a spate of suicides.

How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brink
UK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal jail notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.

Belmarsh detainees consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim detainees released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism has told the Guardian his fellow prisoners are suffering such severe mental problems that they constantly consider suicide.

Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.

Prospect of Family First senator

1) The ABC's Antony Green is not taking for granted a three (3) Liberal Senators outcome for SA.

2) Is Antony reasonable in claiming the Family First "chance depends on a surplus from the Liberal quotas?

3) The chances of Family First displacing the Greens for a fourth 'conservative' seat are mainly to do with the % who vote 'conservative' rather than a direct flow of preferences from the Democrats to Family First rather than to the Greens.

4) The general appeal in part of the Democrats is that they pull votes from the 'conservative' electors as well as from those who don't want to vote Labor No 1.

5) On Antony's rationale if the Democrats do contribute to the pull down of the 'conservative' vote, then implicitly Family First will be adversely affected as they are a 'conservative' competitor.

6) If the excess in the Labor quota is to go to the Greens, and Labor increases more than the pro rata increase from an increase in the number of electors as unweighted by any increase in the informal vote, then the excess quota going to the Greens should put the Greens above the Family First quota score plus the Liberal excess.

7) The issue for the Democrats has been whether any increase in the Labor excess going to the Greens will be significantly adverse to the Democrat quota score.

8) If the pull from the 'conservative' vote doesn't reach its former flow to the Democrats, but goes to the FF and/or (but less likely) One Nation, and the flow to the Democrats from those who may not have wished to put Labor 1st declines, with this going to the Greens and/or Labor itself,then the Greens preferences to the Democrats may be adequate to get the Democrats elected on the fulfillment of two prior conditions

- a) Family First combined quota scores (inc. from the Liberals) is less than the Democrats;and,

- b) the Greens quota score (inc. Labor excess) doesn't match the Democrats quota score after the elimination of all the rest except for the Greens and the Family First.

9) The scenario above is a win for the 'progressives' because their votes will elect someone 'progressive' and the 'conservative' vote is wasted as insufficient.

10) The fear factor is that the 'conservative' vote will get up, because of the 'fear' scenario that the combined Labor excess and the Greens own quota score (inc. those first to be eliminated) either will be less than the Democrats quota but insufficient to give the Democrats the edge over Family First (inc. the Liberals excess), or will be just enough or more than enough to eliminate the Democrats themselves but insufficient to then trounce Family First, because (FF) will gain the Democrats quota score.

11) The proper question in light of the previous election results and taking into account the Antony Green analysis, is whether such an outcome, if it were to occur, might well have been properly avoided by the Democrats by a different preference deal (without any impact on the likelihood of the Democrats attracting 'conservative' votes as well as the votes of those who may not wish to put Labor 1st), or whether the appearance of such an outcome may be more to do with the substantive grounds on which electors choose to vote in the light, both of the preference deals previously advertised by particular parties (which admittedly is perhaps likely to be low compared to other more prominent grounds to do with 'image' or 'message' of a party), and the 'general trend' towards a 'conservative' vote (inc. the FF, but less likely to inc.the Democrats) rather than towards a 'progressive' vote for change (inc.the Democrats).

12) Unless there is some substantial reason to suppose that the generalvoting trend is irrelevant to the determination of a such a question in the instant case, and which is yet to be articulated, it may be as well to conclude that the outcomes being feared, are not unreasonable, but are still not of sufficient merit to be maintained in public without first estimating the general impact on the credibility of the 'progressive' 'image' and 'message' to the electorate by agitating the issue in any condemnatory way leading up to the decision-making days closer to the vote.

13) That a fear is not an unreasonable suspicion, may not be sufficient consideration to lose nerve and shift the focus from a range of'progressive' alternatives to the vicissitudes of a bickering antagonism between two parties that have otherwise agreed to a preference deal. The doing down of one, even if justified to the other, may only serve ultimately to be a form of self-fulfilling prophecy in as far as it may assist to formulate a 'conservative' trend prior to the election in reaction to an obvious incapacity in the 'progressive' parties to be seen to be able to continue with some 'image' or working together on a coherent and substantively similar 'message'.

14) What should not be overlooked is the message from the Indigenous contributors to the debate, like Tom Trevorrow, who have no party axe to sharpen, that respect is missing in the public operation of 'conservative' politics. If 'progressive' parties cannot maintain at least the 'image' of respect, apart from the necessity for the 'message' of respect, how can either the Greens or the Democrats in the 'progressive' group be seen to be asking people to do what they do rather than be seen asking people notto do what they do, but do what they say? And if so, how can the electors easily see either or both as 'progressive' except on what they say they are?

15) The advice is that appealing to people to vote against lies, requires that the hubbub of hypocrisy and the blame games of bickering, be avoided for the greater good, and for the greater good even at the expense of tactical advantage based on the reasonable suspicion that the general voting trend is looming 'conservative' and therefore 'progressives' should be all hanging together to avoid hanging separately.

16) If there are difficulties in accepting the bona fides of another' progressive', the need to avoid public hypocrisy and the appearance of direct misrepresentation to the electorate may be paramount, and indeed essential, for honesty in policy presentation. It's what parties do that equals what they say, and what they say they do.

17) However, being rash and hastily making a clean-breasted sweep of the insufferability of the 'other' in the 'progressive' camp, is a recipe to make clear to the more discerning of the wavering pro-government voter, that a protest vote may be less effective than conceived, and therefore not be any practical way to object to some part of government policy, because its implementation would be more likely to have quite a critical outcome, not for the government, but for the settlement of an acrimonious dispute among the 'progressive' parties. For those who wish to vote down the government in the Senate as a safeguard, helping 'progressives' resolve any issue may be a very much lesser attraction, if not plainly antipathetic to their rationale in voting away from government.

18) In such circumstances, and more so were there to be a general trend to 'conservative' voting, the protest vote may simply go to FF and/or One Nation and exacerbate the problem being publicly agitated rather than lessen the overall vote for the government, and irrespective of the claim that in any case a vote for one 'progressive' party is not a vote against the government because its preferences may well see that a 'conservative'is elected.

By Patrick Byrt 9 October 04

Patrick T. Byrt e-mail: Patrick_Byrt@fcl.fl.asn.au 

Family FIRST? Family LAST Party!

One of the great certainties of this election is that "Family First Party" debunked as the 'Family Last Party' when you take into account the party has won the preferences and conditional approval of caretaker Prime Minister John HoWARd. 

THE HILLSONG'S ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF ' NEO-LIBERALISM' 

Only a bent mind would envisage the possibility or think of the concept that a '2nd Neo-Liberal 'front' promoted by the right and posing as a Church would enter politics under the flag of "Family First Party". 
  
Costello, Howard's Disciple

JOHN HOWARD AND PETER Costello lost their vision for Australia from the time they were elected and embarked on a vision for the neo-Liberals. 

Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel?

Well praise the Lord the light is Hell bent here on Peter Costello, treasurer of the Howard Government who now has his own "flock" of onward Christian Soldiers.

Related:

Australia Must Change Nation: Community
Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham is entitled to raise comments about what Prime Minister John Howard the "rodent type" made in relation to Asian migrants 14 years ago because the Coalition has been campaigned on his past.

HOWARD NO REMORSE!
Australian caretaker Prime Minister John Howard 'a rodent type' does not need to apologise for the illegal and degrading war in Iraq despite a new report that has found Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction at the time of the US-led invasion.

IRAQ: `Things are definitely not improving'
It's been a frequent refrain of US officials that Washington is winning its counter-insurgency war in Iraq. "It's very important for the people of the world really to know that we are winning, we are making progress in Iraq. We are defeating terrorists." In this case, however, it was US-installed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi who made the claim.

Allies 'planned' Iraq war despite denials
The United States, Australia and Britain started to plan the invasion of Iraq months before the conflict, according to a report Wednesday quoting a leaked Pentagon document.

Hill primed for war!
Australian Caretaker Defence Minister Robert Hill has announced a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Pearce Air Force base in Western Australia. Hill says $87 million would be spent on a major upgrade of the base, which is Australia's main flying training facility.

Annan tells world leaders to respect law
United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan has made an impassioned plea to bring about the rule of law across the globe today. Mr Annan told world leaders to respect international law at home and abroad.

CO-OFFENDERS DO NOT REBUFF UN ON 'ILLEGAL WAR'
The 'coalition of the killing's' complicities - the US, Britain and Australia - have insisted that their countries' military action in Iraq was legal after they have committed war crimes against humanity.

Iraq war illegal, says Annan
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan says the United States decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was "illegal". Australia was a key supporter of the war on Iraq and sent troops to join the United States-led invasion last year.

Opp calls for Cooperation: Rudd
Imron Cotan says 10 ambassadors and High Commissioners from South East Asian nations were told comments by Prime Minister John Howard about pre-emptive strikes were part of an internal debate and the idea was still being developed?

Defence people need to vote for the Greens
Caretaker Prime Minister John Howard will today unveil a plan to step up the fight against terrorism in the region, using specialist teams of Australian Federal Police (AFP) that could be sent to work in neighbouring countries.

Australia will not Save Your Soul
The Federal Government will not Save Australian Soul's? Even if you're an innocent bystander caught up in it. Despite a group claiming to have kidnapped two Australian security guards? The alleged group, which allegedly calls itself the Horror Brigades of the Islamic Secret Army, allegedly has given the Prime Minister John Howard 24 hours to end Australia's involvement in Iraq.

Trust John Howard like you can trust George Bush...
Once again Prime Minister John Howard unleashed his "politics of fear" to win his election campaign trying to scare ratepayers.

Apologise to children abused in care: report
A Senate report on children placed in institutional care has called for the Federal Government to apologise to those who were harmed by their experience.

Gillard stirs Liberal leadership pot
The federal Labor Party claims Peter Costello has relaunched his leadership bid, after the Treasurer gave a wide-ranging interview outlining his support for an Australian republic.

Australian Govt human rights record 'worsening'
Community groups have given the Federal Government five out of ten for its record on human rights this year. Mr Purcell said the Government was also marked down because of the policy of holding children in immigration detention centres.

Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes
Complaint to Australian law officers about Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes.

Don't rock the Boat Howard!
PRIME Minister John Howard today denied the children overboard affair had swayed the 2001 election? Mr Howard has spent the week defending himself against claims he had been informed that nobody in Defence believed children had been thrown overboard by asylum seekers.

Australia an unfair nation, say young and all!
Young people and older people think Australia is undemocratic and unfair. Young people cite their teachers as having the greatest influence on their political thinking, according to a provocative new national survey funded by the Government. Older people cite "injustice" amongst other things as a "bent legal system" favouring hi profiled superstars, corporations and politicians.

HOWARD'S LIE DETECTOR TEST
But most voters have already decided that former ministerial adviser Mike Scrafton has contradicted Mr Howard's recollection of conversations just days before the 2001 election and says he has been vindicated by a lie detector test.

Not happy, John
Valder's alarm whistle effort 'let love be thy weapon' indeed Prime Minister John Howard is also the subject of a stinging attack in a Sunday feature this week, from the man who first engineered his ascent to the Liberal leadership in the mid-1980s former party president John Valder.

Howard 'unfit to lead'
The Federal Opposition says John Howard is not fit to be Prime Minister after new revelations about the children overboard affair.

Howard's war crimes, Turnbull, at least he's honest
HIGH-profile Liberal candidate Malcolm Turnbull has told voters the Iraq invasion was "an unadulterated error".

Alexanda Downer guilty of war crimes!
The agreement for going to war on Iraq carried with it and incentive and that was free trade with the US. The Howard Government knew about it and went along with it with the US under the guise of Iraq's WMDs. In criminal law this is commonly know as collusion to commit a crime.

John Howard's war crimes blameworthy
General Peter Gration is the spokesman for a group of 43 ex-military leaders, diplomats and departmental heads who have criticised the Government, saying involvement in Iraq has put Australia at greater risk of a terrorist attack.

Auditor Generals damning defence report
The Defence Department computer system upgrade has cost Australia tens of millions of dollars in a gigantic bungle, according to the Federal Opposition. The Commonwealth auditor-general has issued a damning report into the project.

Court reserves decision on 'no war' protest appeal
Two men have asked the Court of Criminal Appeal to accept that they painted "NO WAR" on the Sydney Opera House, to defend people in Iraq and Australia from war.

PM's Fox Defence? Less the evidence?
The Fox went out on a chilly night. He prayed for the moon to give him light. For he had many a mile to go that night....

Australians to be sacrificed: Howard
Howard vowed hostages wouldn't sway policy? The Federal Government say they would not negotiate with terrorists if an Australian were taken hostage in Iraq.

PM Howard Morally Bankrupt
Prime Minister John Howard insists the war in Iraq was justified despite his British counterpart Tony Blair's concession that weapons of mass destruction might never be found.

Howard 'should be tried for war crimes'
Former Liberal Party federal president John Valder says Prime Minister John Howard should be tried and punished for war crimes over Australia's involvement in the Iraq conflict.

Troop deployment not a deepening of effort: Hill
Deploying an extra 30 troops to Iraq was not a deepening of Australia's involvement because they were being sent to protect those already there, Defence Minister Robert Hill said yesterday.

War on terrorism' could take a generation: Downer?
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has launched the Government's terrorism white paper, saying the "war" could take a generation.

JUDGEMENT: HOWARD'S WAR CRIMES
Howard Vs Regina in Canberra the Capital Territory of Australia- Friday January 30 2004.

'FACTOPHOBIA' HOWARD, BLAIR AND BUSH
Well think about this! Australia's intelligence agencies look set to receive a substantial funding boost in this year's Federal Budget, with the Prime Minister saying it is an obvious step to take.

Howard, where's your head at?
Australians living on the edge! Seems each time the bombs go off overseas Australians are living on the edge.

Should John Howard be locked up indefinitely?
Australian convicted mock terrorist John Howard is seriously considering appealing the precise time limit on detaining terrorist suspects.

Daily Terror rolled-over for Howard's war games
The DAILY TERROR is suspected of being the source of the news this morning that Willie Brigitte is a terrorist and that Sydney faces a bomb attack.

Gulag bill: ASIO set to ignite blazing debate

The Howard Government's controversial ASIO legislation [draconian laws] has top billing in the list of legislation to be debated when Parliament resumes today.

The bill, due to be introduced into the Senate, gives ASIO officers [Noble Cause Corruption officers] new powers to detain for a week citizens aged 14 and over [child abuse and draconian laws.]

People [including little people, their children] could be detained even where they are not suspected of any crime but of having information related to terrorism. [Scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing's illegal and degrading crime's against humanity and resource wars in the Middle East.]

Labor - which opposed the bill last year, leading to a heated stand off on the last day of sittings - was in talks yesterday with the [war criminal] Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, over new amendments which the Government has refused to detail.

The amendments are believed to be of a technical nature only [technically ruling class.] Labor is still opposed to three key points in the legislation, including its application to children, the length of detention and the prohibition against detained citizens seeing a lawyer in the first 48 hours they are held.

"There have been further discussions today with the [war criminal] Attorney-General but it was entirely on a confidential basis [secrets and lies]," a spokesman for the Labor Senate leader, Senator John Faulkner, said yesterday. "What Labor took to the meeting was in accordance with caucus's decision on the way the ASIO bill should proceed."

A number of major media organisations, including GKCNN (the publisher of Greg's Kables) and Justice Action wrote to [war criminal] Williams late in March citing concerns about the bill.

The media outlets are worried that the bill imposes an unprecedented burden of proof on detained citizens to show they do not have the information requested by ASIO [to prove that they're not scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killing.] They are also concerned that individuals can be held incommunicado for long periods without a lawyer.

"It represents a significant infringement of human rights not seen before in this country," the letter states. [Draconian Laws.]

The [war criminal] Government, however, is forging ahead with the legislation [Draconian Laws.] A spokeswoman for Williams said yesterday: "The legislation remains a priority for the Government. It's an important counter-terrorism tool [fear mongering, propagandist, scapegoat tool for war criminals']"

In response to media concerns, the spokeswoman said: "We don't see why any segment of the public should be excluded from assisting to prevent terrorist attacks. [Rubbish!] This bill is not aimed at journalists in particular - it is about collecting information to ensure that terrorist activities are thwarted." [It's about quelling dissent and bolstering support for the Coalition of the Killing's resource wars in the Middle East!]

The Australian Democrats and the Greens fiercely oppose the ASIO bill. Democrats Senator Brian Greig said the ASIO bill was a "radical departure from established legal principles".

You will have four square walls to look at in order to stimulate your mind. That is if you don't talk or sign the inditement.

But wait there is more.

You can't breathe because there is no fresh air from the little vent that the air is pumped in enough to deal with the extremities of the Supermax at Goulburn with blistering cold winters and stifling hot summers.

Unbelievable! Do you give in?

We'll throw in no medical treatment or any contact with your solicitor just as a special offer.

But wait there is more!

We will try you in court in camera so you go down quietly.

But wait there is still more.

Sources tell us there are no Standard Guidelines for Corrections in Australia - Australian Institute of Criminology - 1996, for people housed at the High Risk Management Unit Goulburn Correctional Centre.

Fantastic!

The legislation remains a priority for the Government. It's an important propaganda tool.

Letter from prisoner Scott Simpson to his mother

I hop this letter finds you healthy and well. As you know I am at the H.R.MU. Supermax. High Risk Management Unit. Ps Can you ring this bloke Greg Kable "Justice Action" group pH 9660 9111 tell him my situation put in Supermax no nothing. Full remand prisoner and no adverse reports to put me in here. No legal council. Legal Aid won't fund my solicitor to drive to see me and they won't put me in a Sydney jail. Facing murder charge had to do committal my self and 24 hours a day. Ring Green Peace MP he knows what's happening. Tell him what is going on. Also the Ombudsman sent 4 letters no reply. Inspector general local MP you know who to ring mum please mum do something."TORTURED"

PM man of steel? Or killer and a thief?

Is JOHN Howard a killer and a thief or a man of steel after he dropped bombs on innocent civilians in order to fix the problem in Iraq for trade agreements with the US? Thousands of children are now dieing of disease.

By I'll Get-you-to Sign 13 May 03

Related:

No need for new terrorism laws: DPP
The New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has rejected the idea of new laws against terrorism in Australia. [Draconian laws for the Coalition of the Killing to quell dissent and bolster support for their illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East.

Qld A-G outraged at 'control freak' measures
The Queensland Attorney-General has labelled the Federal Government "control freaks" over plans to force lawyers to gain a security clearance before they can appear in certain cases.

Federal Government proposal to abolish the post of Race Discrimination Commissioner I write to alert you to a Federal Government proposal to abolish the post of Race Discrimination Commissioner (together with the posts of Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Human Rights Commissioner and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner).

Australia: Terrorising you in secret
Suspected terrorists [scapegoats and patsies for the Coalition of the Killing's resource wars in the Middle East] will be tried in secret under new laws to be introduced by the Federal Government.

Red paper classes Australia as terrorist suspects
Australia's old foreign policy red paper says Australians have become targets because their own government is being run by war criminals that are complicit in state terror, torture, murder, occupation and genocide.

Middle Eastern: Specific Legislation
"If there is a target person the police would have powers in relation to that type of person," Mr Costa said. Asked what he meant by "type of person", Mr Costa said: "The example that's been given is if there's a description of somebody, an identikit photograph released by Interpol or other agencies ... these powers may well be exercised on that type of person."

Howard defends terror alert
Prime Minister John Howard says the Federal Government would not have issued a terror alert if it had not come from a credible source. (America?) Speaking for the first time since the Government revealed the warning, Mr Howard says he wants people to be more careful, but not to stop living. [As long as they don't go dancing in Bali? And sure we'll all be depressed for as long as John Howard and Bob Carr say so.]

Carr backs Fed Govt's terror alert
New South Wales Premier Bob Carr has defended the Federal Government's decision to issue a warning to Australians about a possible terrorist attack in Australia.

NSW Police Force may get 'special powers'
Civil libertarians are questioning the need for further anti-terrorism laws, which will be announced in the New South Wales Parliament on Tuesday.

Retrospective Laws: Mesmerised like a chook syndrome
What is it? This chook syndrome. Perhaps it is when we allow 800-year-old rule of law to diminish for a dictator like Bob Carr.

Watchdogs slaughtered in NSW
On Tuesday the Carr Government reduced transparency and accountability yet again and New South Wales is in danger of becoming entrenched with cronyism and intimidations with the Carr Labor Government that continues to slaughter the watchdogs.

Civil Liberties Council slams NSW law and order fight

The Civil Liberties Council says the law and order fight in New South Wales is an indictment on both the major parties. Spokesman Cameron Murphy says the State is already one of the toughest in the area of criminal justice in the world. He says the tightening of bail laws will only add to the number of people in jail.

Mr Murphy says progressive ideas from minor parties, such as the Greens' drugs policy, has received unmerited bad publicity. "If you look at it closely, it's policy that is really nothing more than the recommendations of the Drug Summit in 1999," he said.

"It recommends, as does the Greens' policy, that drug use should be treated as a health issue. "And It's more important to be saving lives of young people and others who are drug addicts, than it is to be locking them up in jail."

NSW ELECTION 2003: VOTE 1 GREENS

Drug law reform: The Greens are proud to have the most progressive policy of any party on drug law reform. Our Drugs and Harm Minimisation Policy is available in full from The NSW Greens, as are all our policies.

By Free Dom 18 March 03

Related:

NSW Election 2003: Jails? Health? Education?
PARENTS who want a good education for their children will be wondering why the issue has escaped the spotlight so far in the state election campaign said the Daily Telegraph. "Little learned from party promises" 18 March 03..

Bidding war has only fanned fears: Greens
Tough law and order policies have failed to reduce crime and have only fanned the public's fear of crime, the Greens' state MPs said yesterday. Unveiling what they described as their Justice and Rights Policy, the Greens' Lee Rhiannon and Ian Cohen said it was time NSW politicians turned their attention from tough sentencing to addressing the causes of crime.

Distribution of: 'How to Votes in prisons'?
Justice Action have received information from Andrew Burke of the NSW Greens that they have enquired with the Department of Corrective Services as to the procedure for distributing their How To Votes in prisons in the period before the election.

Getting Justice Wrong DPP make full admissions
Back in May 2001 Nicholas Cowdery QC made an error at law by giving a speech called Getting Justice Wrong at the University of New England, Armidale Thursday, 31 May 2001. Sir Frank Kitto, Lecture now published at the DPP website. At page six, paragraph 3 under the heading:

Democrats preferences split down the middle
The Australian Democrats will divide their preferences evenly between Labor and the Coalition, and both will be put below progressive minor parties on Democrat how-to-vote cards, party leader Arthur Chesterfield-Evans revealed yesterday.

Carr's pitch: Will leave you in a ditch: Let him bury you?
The Premier, Bob Carr, dubbed Darth Vader launched his bid for a historic third term by asking voters not to judge Labor solely on its record but to look to the future and let his Government "get on with the job".

Democrats call for more accountability in NSW Govt
Democrats upper house MP, Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, made the accusation while launching a policy calling for more accountability in state government.

NSW Election 2003: VOTE 1 DEMOCRATS
The Democrats have watched with concern as both of the major parties support more and more legislation that puts more and more people in prisons. It is very easy for politicians to be tough on crime but it is harder to for them to explain to develop solutions to crime. Talkback radio and populist media driven opinion polls that show that the public approves of imprisonment.This comes from the notions that:

NSW ELECTION 2003: VOTE 1 GREENS
Drug law reform: The Greens are proud to have the most progressive policy of any party on drug law reform. Our Drugs and Harm Minimisation Policy is available in full from The NSW Greens, as are all our policies.

The Breen Machine - Reform The Legal System Party
For the past four years, Reform the Legal System has promoted human rights in the new South Wales Parliament. Our most significant achievement is the legislation, passed late last year, to require all bills introduced into the Parliament to be checked for breaches of human rights.

PM lost in space! Pre-emptive Strikes & Star Wars Defence!!
War criminal PM backs missile defence investigation but he is not on his own. Bob Carr dubbed Darth Vader after draconian laws were introduced in NSW following John Howard's threats to strike first and ask questions later.

Constitution, politics, police and prison corruption

Carr appeal is rotten
NSW voters believe the Carr Labor Government has performed bad on crime and public safety and done a poor job in health and hospitals, people can see it with their own eyes.

NSW Election 2003: The Sale of Justice
NSW Young Lawyers' Criminal Law & Human Rights Committees, however, have been concerned about the civil rights trade-offs that both major parties have been proposing (or, in the case of the Government, implementing) prior to the election.

Human Rights 'Framed'
Here is a quick report on our Human Rights Commission approach on Framed (the quarterly magazine of Justice Action) being banned from all NSW prisons. After 42 issues went in.

Abolition of 800 year old double jeopardy law a crime
The 800-year-old rule prevents a person who's acquitted of a criminal charge from ever being re-tried for that offense.

Prison Privatisation: Death camps looming in NSW
I asked for the identification of the person I was speaking to and was told that I was not entitled to that information. I needed to verify the call and asked for a name or number to register my call because I was asked to get those details by my coordinator.

Take crime talk beyond the bars:'lobby group'
A coalition of academics, crime experts, welfare and church groups is preparing to launch an intensive pre-election campaign aimed at refocusing the attention of NSW politicians from harsh sentencing reforms to crime prevention strategies.

NSW A-G moves to stop criminals and ex-criminals selling stories
From next month criminals or ex-criminals who try to profit (earn a living for paid work, like writing a book etc..) from their crimes in New South Wales will have the proceeds confiscated.

NSW Govt criticised over criminal justice record
Key criminal justice groups have described the New South Wales Government's record on justice issues as a "disappointing performance".

Demolishing Democracy
How Bob Carr, [ the Coalition of the Killing,] and Bin Laden gave birth to the NSW police state. The [CIA false flag ]Bali bombings could not have come at a 'better time' for [the Coalition of the Killing and] Bob Carr and his project to bring an end to Westminster democracy in NSW.

Litigants are drowning: in the High Court
There were so many self represented litigants appearing in the High Court that more than half of its registry staff's time was taken up in dealing with them. The "go it alone" litigants have to take on tasks well above their qualified league causing them stress. This growing problem cannot be left unchecked.

The community questions ICAC's slagging and fobbing you off?
The ICAC, Commissions, Ombudsman, Police Integrity Commission (PIC), and numerous Tribunals etc, are all arms of government set up as an insurance police for the government's 3 or 4 year election terms. In short they'll be out of office by the time you may be lucky enough to have your matter heard.

Mr. & Mrs. Mandatory Sentencing
Well congratulations to the bride and groom. Could you please be upstanding and raise your glasses for Mr. And Mrs. Mandatory.

NSW prisons - primary industry bailed up!
In many quiet regional centres around NSW there is a new primary industry shaping up. It has something to do with Bail but not with bales. The minister for Agriculture Richard Amery who also has the prisons portfolio is now committed to farming prisoners.

NSW Parliament Bitter Pills To Swallow?
One delusion pill: So people who investigate their own mistakes make sure there was no mistake or someone else made the mistake. Perhaps you're not biased and you will be honest about it.

Who is bad?
Super Rat? M5? M11? K8? N2? So I trust that some people who, with the photos and guns guessed that a jury would quickly establish a case against a profiled person whom, you just had a picture and a history of. Common knowledge? The government knew their victims would take the blame. Not just chess in court, 'moving around the pieces', but 'putting false evidence, or not enough evidence before the jury."

False flag operations, scapegoats and patsies

State terror units caused the terror!
The level of suspicion and surveillance created by the [US false flag operation and call to arms] Bali bombings, created by [ the Coalition of the Killing and Australian's complicity to go to war on Iraq] means that all Australian's suffer the loss of their human rights, civil rights and their democratic rights, as well as those Australian's who lost their life in Bali.

Middle Eastern: Specific Legislation
"If there is a target person the police would have powers in relation to that type of person," Mr Costa said. Asked what he meant by "type of person", Mr Costa said: "The example that's been given is if there's a description of somebody, an identikit photograph released by Interpol or other agencies ... these powers may well be exercised on that type of person."

UK Reid, Blair and the reichstag London threat!

'Terror threat' to 'London' like [USA false Flag] Sept 11: Labour Party chief [?]

The nature of the [alleged] terrorist threat to London is on the scale of the [USA false flag] September 11 attacks in the United States, the chairman of Britain's governing Labour Party said.

John Reid, a minister without portfolio who is close to Prime Minister Tony Blair, made the comment as more than 400 troops with armoured vehicles patrolled London's Heathrow airport for a second day amid a heightened security alert.

Asked if the deployment was an over-reaction as a US-led war against Iraq looms, Mr Reid replied: "This is not a game, this is about a threat of the nature that massacred thousands of people in New York."

"I am not even going to take seriously those people who suggest this is part of some sort of game," he said.

[But 'pre-emptive' false flag operations and a Reichstag is not a game it is a pre-emptive attack on their own population by their own government to bolster support and quell dissent - for an illegal and degrading 'pre-emptive' attack on a sovereign nation state like Afghanistan and Iraq - by the Colation of the Killing. Murderers and war criminals.]

Home Secretary David Blunkett said government ministers had considered closing Heathrow -- the world's busiest international airport -- following the latest terror alert.

But it was decided that such action would have been a victory for terrorists and "catastrophic" for Britain's trade and economy, he said.

[Once again just plain rubbish, propaganda and fear-mongering about a reichstag in the UK and state terror!]

By Tony Blair 13 Feb 03

Related:

Bin Laden calls? CIA blind man's bluff!
A [US propaganda, fear-mongering] taped message purportedly from Osama bin Laden has warned Arab nations against supporting a war against Iraq but has branded Saddam Hussein an infidel.

U.S. AMBASSADOR WARNED TO STOP MEDDLING:
The Australian Federal Opposition and Labor Party Leader, Simon Crean, has again warned the U.S. ambassador to stop meddling in Australian politics.

War: Part one The human cost
On the road to Basra, ITV was filming wild dogs as they tore at the corpses of the Iraqi dead. Every few seconds a ravenous beast would rip off a decaying arm and make off with it over the desert in front of us, dead fingers trailing through the sand, the remains of the burned military sleeve flapping in the wind. "Just for the record,'' the cameraman said to me. Of course. Because ITV would never show such footage.

Mandela speaks out against Bush, Blair
Former South African leader Nelson Mandela has lashed out at US President George W Bush's stance on Iraq, saying the US leader has no foresight, and cannot think properly.

All the way with (LPK) Love Peace and Kindness: Dalai Lama
Communication is a two way street. Threats and punishment solve nothing and serve none. In fact it is against the law in most countries to threaten or punish a person.

Hill defends decision to attack Iraq: Step by step?
FEDERAL Defence [War] Minister [Sinister] Robert Hill has defended the government's decision to send troops [ send militia] to the Persian Gulf [ to attack Iraq] in readiness for any [pre-emptive strike that would cause a] conflict with Iraq.

Pleas for peace ring the globe
Anti-war demonstrators turned out in their hundreds of thousands around the world on Saturday to protest against United States military preparations for an invasion of Iraq.

Not too late for Iraq peace, Blix says
But we all know that's rubbish now. The Coalition of the Killing were not seeking WMD in Iraq, they were there for their resource wars. So who gave the 'UN' and Blix the wrong information back then? War criminals!

George Bush's other poodle
John Howard, Australia's PM, is the mouse that roars for America, whipping his country into war fever and paranoia about terrorism within.

US prepares for trade talks with Australia but it's not worth it!
The office of the United States Trade Representative has started formally preparing its negotiating position for the first round of talks on a free trade agreement between Australia and the US.

First strike and you're out!
The ideology of a super loser? John Howard shocks the nation again. A nation who cannot believe Howard's stupidity following his [complicity in the CIA's false flag operation, the Bali bombing.]

UN charter doesn't reflect new self-defence needs: Hill?
The Defence [War] Minister, Robert Hill, says the United Nations' charter needs to be changed to help countries defend themselves against potential threats. [?] [Pre-emptive strikes on soveriegn nation states like Iraq and Afghanistan?]